Amino Age - Gen 3

Third Time’s a Charm!

BY STEVE BORN

Saying farewell to an awesome, multi-beneficial nutrient like NAC (n-acetyl cysteine) wasn’t easy, and someday it may very well be a stand-alone supplement in the Hammer Nutrition line. For Amino Age, however, NAC proved to be problematic, no matter how much we wanted to keep it in the blend. The first incarnation (Gen 1) contained no natural flavors, so the sulfur-y smell was quite pronounced. And even though that smell dissipated quite a bit when the powder was mixed in water, it was still an issue with many of our clients. We then added natural orange flavor to Amino Age (Gen 2), but even though that helped significantly, the off-putting smell was still there… greatly diminished, but still there. Add to that the issue of NAC being hygroscopic and thus clumping after a while in the container, and we knew we had to remove it from the formula.

Announcing Amino Age – Gen 3!

The good news is that we came up with an outstanding replacement, one that has virtually no smell or taste, one that does not appear to clump at all, and one that supplies an incredibly wide range of benefits.

Please welcome the amino acid, l-citrulline, to the Amino Age formula!

L-Citrulline is a non-essential amino acid that plays a crucial role in the urea cycle and is a precursor to L-arginine, which is essential for nitric oxide (NO) production. According to research [https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/7/921], “Unlike l-arginine, l-citrulline is not quantitatively extracted from the gastrointestinal tract (i.e., enterocytes) or liver and its supplementation is therefore more effective at increasing l-arginine levels and NO synthesis.”

As it is an extremely effective nitric oxide (NO) booster, l-citrulline offers many health benefits, especially regarding cardiometabolic health, defined as “the overall well-being of your cardiovascular system (your heart and blood vessels) and metabolic system (how your body breaks down food to create energy).” [1]

As to the importance of NO, research [ 2, 3, 4, 5] states, “Diminished bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), the gaseous signaling molecule involved in the regulation of numerous vital biological functions, contributes to the development of multiple age- and lifestyle-related risk factors and diseases, including:

• Hypertension
• Atherosclerosis
• Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease

L-citrulline has also been shown to have the ability to reduce markers of inflammation: research states that “ingestion of l-citrulline has been shown to reduce serum inflammatory cytokine concentrations, such as IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and C-reactive protein in both aged animals [6] and humans [7].”

L-citrulline also possesses antioxidant properties: “The mechanisms of l-citrulline to improve endothelial dysfunction, in conditions such as atherosclerosis, are most likely mediated via direct reduction of hydroxyl radical formation, direct action on vascular smooth muscle, and indirect action of NO synthesis. The antioxidant effects of l-citrulline can be viewed in two different ways: NO-dependent and NO-independent pathways. L-citrulline is capable of increasing eNOS (endothelial-nitric oxide synthase) in endothelial cells, which in turn reduces ROS (reactive oxygen species) formation [8].”

Improved exercise performance? You bet! There are numerous studies on the beneficial effects of l-citrulline supplementation and exercise performance. Here is but one: “In conclusion, this study has shown that short-term Cit [l-citrulline] supplementation can reduce blood pressure, speed V̇O2 kinetics, and enhance endurance exercise performance. Supplementation with Arg [l-arginine], on the other hand, did not significantly affect these parameters [9].”

Summary

It’s clear that l-citrulline is an amino acid that provides such a plethora of benefits—see https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/7/921 for more—that it’s a natural for inclusion in Amino Age. Gone is the not-so-pleasant smell and taste, replaced by an amino acid that has minimal-to-no smell or taste and provides even more benefits than NAC. It took three tries to get it exactly right, but that’s how we roll… until a product is precisely how we want it, we will make any/all necessary upgrades.

The 3^rd Generation of Amino Age is here. It’s a product that arguably provides more health benefits than any other, and it’s ready to go to work for you!

REFERENCES:
[1] https://careaccess.com/resources-and-stories/health-resources/what-is-cardiometabolic-health
[2] Brandes, R.P.; Fleming, I.; Busse, R. Endothelial aging. Cardiovasc. Res. 2005, 66, 286-294.
[3] Forte, P.; Copland, M.; Smith, L.M.; Milne, E.; Sutherland, J.; Benjamin, N. Basal nitric oxide synthesis in essential hypertension. Lancet 1997, 349, 837-843.
[4] Rajapakse, N.W.; Karim, F.; Straznicky, N.E.; Fernandez, S.; Evans, R.G.; Head, G.A.; Kaye, D.M. Augmented endothelial-specific L-arginine transport prevents obesity-induced hypertension. Acta Physiol. 2014, 212, 39-48.
[5] Halcox, J.P.; Schenke, W.H.; Zalos, G.; Mincemoyer, R.; Prasad, A.; Waclawiw, M.A.; Nour, K.R.; Quyyumi, A.A. Prognostic value of coronary vascular endothelial dysfunction. Circulation 2002, 106, 653-658.
[6] Joffin, N.; Jaubert, A.M.; Durant, S.; Barouki, R.; Forest, C.; Noirez, P. Citrulline counteracts overweight- and aging-related effects on adiponectin and leptin gene expression in rat white adipose tissue. Biochem. Open 2015, 1, 1-5.
[7] Barkhidarian, B.; Seyedhamzeh, S.; Hashemy, S.I.; Nematy, M.; Rahbari, A.; Ranjbar, R.; Safarian, M. Effects of arginine and citrulline supplementation on inflammatory markers in critically ill patients. J. Nutr. Sci. Diet. 2016, 2.
[8] Forstermann, U.; Li, H. Therapeutic effect of enhancing endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression and preventing eNOS uncoupling. Br.J. Pharmacol. 2011, 164, 213-223.
[9] https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00192.2014